SHREVEPORT, La. — A Shreveport man says thieves drove his RV off the lot of the storage facility where it’s been kept for two years. Now that victim is questioning the “secure” promise of the facility.
“I just question a place that puts secure in the name of their business operating a business that isn’t secure,” said Brett Malone.
On Oct. 1, Malone drove onto the storage lot in Shreveport, thinking he would drive back out with his RV in tow. He was planning on going camping.
“When I got to the space where it was supposed to be parked it was empty,” said Malone.
The RV was gone, and he wasn’t the one who took it.
“I had personal documents in my camper. I was like, ‘Oh no, they know where I live,'” said Malone.
Right away, Malone filed a theft report. Although he didn’t realize the RV was missing until October, the theft — captured on surveillance cameras – happened on Sept. 13.
“I was able to go back and get footage showing when the thief came in and his license plate was showing,” said Malone
The video shows someone driving out of the facility without hassle with Malone’s RV hitched to their car.
“We’re supposed to have unique codes that we choose as renters. But that old manager said the system wasn’t working right and that there’s an override code and if someone had that they could get in and out,” said Malone.
KTBS asked the current manager about this mysterious master code. She says it does exist but is only used when the system isn’t working properly.
Malone said even after he gave investigators the license plate number there hasn’t been much movement in the case
“I was told recovery of stolen vehicles like that is very rare,” said Malone.
On top of that he says the storage facility hasn’t helped either.
“I’ve left multiple messages with corporate’s people never got a call back an email back or nothing,” said Malone.
KTBS reached out to the regional manager for the facility and talked with the manager at the Shreveport-Barksdale Highway location to double check that we were reaching out to the right person. But questions about what the facility plans to do about the theft still remain unanswered.
“You need to fix your security issue because it’s not a secure facility. The video surveillance some of the cameras weren’t working some had an obscured view from bushes,” said Malone.
KTBS asked about the cameras. All are operational now. As for the quality of the footage, the new manager couldn’t confirm improvements there.
Malone had insurance, which is required at the facility.
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To protect yourself here are some tips.
- Owners can purchase a hitch lock which prevent a thief from easily hitching the RV to their car.
- Steering wheel locks prevent would-be thieves from driving away
- Another option is installing a tracking sensor and hiding it in the RV.
All these options can provide some sense of peace of mind and could possibly prevent theft.
